EPAG report recommends discontinuing Russian Studies

Macalester's Educational Policy and Governance committee (EPAG) issued a report on Sunday recommending that "the college should discontinue the major and minor in Russian Studies" and no longer have Russian language classes, placing the future of the field at Macalester in jeopardy.

Six of the seven faculty members on EPAG and both student representatives signed on to the report. Sonita Sarker, professor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and English, was the lone voting EPAG member to disagree with the recommendation for discontinuance.

The issue will now go to the faculty, who will discuss the matter at their next meeting on Tuesday. Jim von Geldern, the chair of Russian Studies, wrote in an email that there would be a motion to challenge the recommendation, triggering a vote on the future of the major in March's faculty meeting. Two-thirds of the faculty would need to vote to overturn EPAG's recommendation in order to keep the major.

If Russian Studies is ultimately discontinued, students at or above sophomore standing who have already declared majors or minors would still be able to complete their academic plans. The report advocates keeping enough resources in Russian Studies to allow these students to complete their majors or minors.

The report also leaves open the possibility of English-language Russian Studies classes comprising an alternative academic arrangement, such as a concentration.

"Our curriculum can continue to express a significant commitment to the region and the field [of Russian Studies] without the presence of a major, in alternative forms which can and should be nurtured through the efforts of the faculty and the administration," EPAG's report stated.

The report said that its recommendation was based on "a wide array of evidence, input and perspectives on the past and future prospects for the field in general and at Macalester."

Drawing on extensive data about Macalester's Russian Studies program and comparisons with other similar schools, the report stated that Russian language should no longer be taught at Macalester because "the costs of maintaining a high-quality, interdisciplinary major department in Russian Studies, including Russian language instruction, are very high when balanced against other areas of the curriculum competing for investment," and that "greater investment in Russian Studies beyond its current level of support would be unlikely to generate broader student interest in the field."

The report also said that the Russian Studies review process has brought up other issues with which the faculty will continue to grapple, such as the role of small departments, evaluation of the two-year foreign language requirement that has been in place since the mid-1990s and continued tweaking of the new departmental discontinuance policy.

Kate Hamilton '13 and Yeukai Mudzi '12, EPAG's student representatives who both signed on to the report, said they would likely hold a forum for students about Russian Studies sometime next week. Additionally, students may attend the Tuesday faculty meetings, where the Russian Studies issue will be discussed.

The Allocations Process

EPAG's report states that the question of whether to continue Russian Studies "has been one of the most divisive we have faced over the last decade." The debate has centered on allocations, which is the process of choosing which departments get to hire new professors.

In a typical year, the administration decides how many new positions - called "lines" - will become available. Departments that want to hire new professors submit requests for the limited number of faculty lines to the Allocations committee, which is made up of the faculty members in EPAG. (Student EPAG representatives do not participate in Allocations.)

The Allocations committee then makes recommendations to the office of the Provost as to which departments should have searches for new faculty.

The Provost is the dean of the faculty, and has the final word in many academic and administrative decisions. It is up to her to either accept the recommendations of the Allocations committee or to start searches for positions in other departments.

Departments do not automatically receive a new position when one of their faculty retires, which is how Russian ended up on the chopping block this year.

Russian has submitted multiple proposals over the past 5 years to convert current visiting full-time professor Julia Chadaga's current position to a tenure-track position and add another position, but it was not recommended by Allocations.